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What Do You Get When You Cross IRVE With a Shuttle-Era P/A Module?

ULA’s Vulcan recovery concept:

ULA CEO Outlines BE-4 Engine Reuse Economic Case

It amounts to severing the engines from the stage, post-separation, and bringing them down via IRVE-derived inflatable heatshields.

An interesting method, but AvWeek’s description makes it sound a bit crude compared to going all the way to a single P/A-module-like unit. It may […]

The State of Commercial Space

Not bad: Forget Musk’s Mars: Billionaires Branson, Allen Seek Earth Orbit – Bloomberg Business.

Inflatables Moving Closer to Use

Bigelow’s already demonstrated that inflatables can be deployed and operated in space. Now they’re moving closer to demonstrating an inflatable habitat with actual people in it: On the BEAM: Headed for the Space Station.

In its packed configuration tucked aboard SpaceX’s Dragon resupply spacecraft, BEAM will measure approximately 8 feet in diameter.

Once BEAM is […]

You Had Me at “Plug-Nozzle Aerospike”

Want: Firefly Space Systems charges full-speed toward low Earth orbit.

There seem to be quite a few entrants in the ALASA-class lately. Which is interesting on the one hand given DARPA’s work in this area 12-13 years ago, and amusing given SpaceX’s exit in favor of EELV-class launchers.

Sierra Nevada Teams With Stratolaunch

This looks interesting: Spurned by NASA, Sierra Nevada Teams With Stratolaunch

I’ve been joking since the announcement all SNC needs is to find a dot-com billionaire of its own, and apparently they have (albeit indirectly in this case).

ExoTerra Wins Asteroid Redirect Mission Study Contract

Yep, we got selected under the “Adapt Commercial Spacecraft for the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle” category: NASA Selects Studies for the Asteroid Redirect Mission

ExoTerra Resource in Littleton, Colorado: The “Multipurpose SEP Module for ARM and Beyond” study will define concepts for an extensible multipurpose Solar Electric Propulsion module designed for launch on Falcon 9.

Congratulations […]

Elon Musk On Colonizing Mars

Not sure what he says in this clip because watching interview videos makes my skin crawl, but I’m sure it’s something interesting:

Elon Musk On Colonizing Mars

On the other hand, the blurb alone on this one made me chuckle:

Here’s How Elon Musk Can Tell If Job Applicants Are Lying About Their […]

You Have Done Well, Grasshopper

On August 13th, the Falcon 9 test rig (code name Grasshopper) completed a divert test, flying to a 250m altitude with a 100m lateral maneuver before returning to the center of the pad. The test demonstrated the vehicle’s ability to perform more aggressive steering maneuvers than have been attempted in previous flights.

Grasshopper is taller […]

Spaceship 2 Fires Engine

Sweet – Virgin’s passenger spaceship completes first rocket test flight:

The spaceship and its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port at 7 a.m. PDT (10.00 a.m. EDT), heading to an altitude of about 46,000 feet, where SpaceShipTwo was released.

Two pilots then ignited the ship’s rocket engine and climbed […]

Another Rocket in the Stable

The Antares maiden launch appears to have gone well: Private company succeeds in test launch of rocket that will carry cargo ship

About 10 minutes after the launch from Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles declared the test a success after observing a practice payload reach orbit and safely separate […]

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What Do You Get When You Cross IRVE With a Shuttle-Era P/A Module?

The State of Commercial Space

Inflatables Moving Closer to Use

You Had Me at “Plug-Nozzle Aerospike”

Sierra Nevada Teams With Stratolaunch

ExoTerra Wins Asteroid Redirect Mission Study Contract

Elon Musk On Colonizing Mars

You Have Done Well, Grasshopper

Spaceship 2 Fires Engine

Another Rocket in the Stable

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